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Steven Bochco on Raising the Bar
By Fred Topel | Image property of TNT
Steven Bochco has been in television for 30 years, producing landmark shows like Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue. His latest, Raising the Bar, is a legal drama, which he has also done before. His new staff may find him more difficult because he's trying not to repeat himself.
Steven Bochco on Producing Raising the Bar
"You do have to pay attention to that," said Bochco. "Over the course of 30-plus years, having told hundreds and hundreds of stories, you do have to be very careful. I think in our story meetings over the course of this year, I've said many more than one time, 'I've done that story. I don't want to do that story or I don't want to do it that way.'"
Raising the Bar promises a less traditional look at the legal system. Based on former public defender David Feige's book Indefensible, Bochco expects people to be surprised by these lawyers and judges.
"You can never legislate people's feelings about what they see, but I can assure everybody, because of David who lived and breathed that world for so many years, there's not a single character on this show that isn't real. You can argue about the writing, you can argue about the casting, you can argue about all that stuff but these are real characters. They exist in this world and in many cases, we've sort of brought them down a notch because, as David said, you really wouldn't believe that it's that way."
Raising the Bar
Originally, the show would have just focused on the public defender's perspective, but Bochco could not bring himself to revisit that territory exclusively. "Feige actually located me through a mutual friend. This has got to be two years ago. He had just published a book called Indefensible and wanted to get it to me because there had been some interest in it from the television community. So I happily read it and I thought it was wonderful. The book really chronicles his 12 to 15 years as a public defender in the Bronx. I said I didn't want to do a series about a public defender. We had done Philly with Kim Delaney which I thought was a terrific show but I didn't feel that audiences really identify particularly with attorneys who represent scumbags by and large. So I said, 'Great book. Thank you very much and goodbye.'"
Ever the lawyer, Feige made an appeal. "Next thing I know, I get this 10 foot long e-mail from this guy within an impassioned defense of that world and why it's a worthy world. I said to Dayna, my wife, I said, 'This man is so passionate about what he does and what he believes in, we should be in business with passionate people because that's what we do.' So I called David and said, 'If you want to start with a blank page and really do a show about a dysfunctional criminal justice system where the point of view isn't skewed just towards public defenders but to prosecutors and judges as well, I said that's something I'd be very interested in doing."
Raising the Bar premieres today on TNT.
Fred Topel
Sources: Image property of TNT
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